Inspire 21-Day Devotional: Illuminating God's Wordਨਮੂਨਾ

WEEK 3, DAY 5: WHERE DID THE BIBLE COME FROM?

Babylon

Daniel and his fellow Judeans—Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—found themselves in a new and unfamiliar place. Having been hand-selected by Babylonian officials due to their aptitude and physical fitness, the boys—now in their late teens—had left home for the first time and found themselves at what was widely regarded as the world’s most elite educational institution in the world’s most elite nation: Babylon University.

Located in the palace complex of King Nebuchadnezzar himself, Babylon U (if you will) was a sight to behold. Indeed, there would have been many reasons for Daniel and his friends to be impressed with their new home in Babylon. Built on the banks of the mighty Euphrates, the city soared above the well-watered plains and displayed architectural and cultural achievement. Its massive double walls, watchtowers, and sentried gates gave it the feeling of invincibility. The Ishtar Gate, guarding the main road to the city from the north, towered four stories over the plain and was decorated with dragons, lions, and wild bulls, symbols of Babylon’s chief deities. When Daniel and his friends first entered the city through this gate, these golden figures looking down from their brilliant blue brick must have given them the impression that they were entering a heavenly court. Just inside this gate stood the king’s palace, complete with a terraced garden fit for his queen, the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Perhaps most remarkable of all was the Esagila. Soaring above the rest of the city, this ziggurat temple was built for Marduk, the chief deity of Babylon.

Despite Babylon’s “awe” factor and Babylon U’s nearly 100% success rate in turning out good, obedient servants of the state, for Daniel and his fellow Judean exiles, there was something superficial about the whole affair. For them, their God, Israel’s God, was the one who alone was worthy of obedience. And for them, Jerusalem, not Babylon, was where this Most High God—the God sovereign over all the nations—would again dwell with his people. Though in exile, these young men clung to truth and to their God, even when swimming culturally upstream, and even when facing the fire. May their example serve to encourage you to remain faithful to the one true God the next time you find yourself in Babylon U!

Artifact: Nebuchadnezzar Brick

The “Nebuchadnezzar Brick” is a clay brick that bears the name of “Nebuchadnezzar.” This is the same king mentioned in the Bible who overthrew the southern kingdom of Judah and sent the Jews into exile in Babylon. The brick is written in the Babylonian language (a dialect of Akkadian) and in cuneiform (Latin, “wedge-shaped”) script—a style of writing that involves pressing a stylus into wet clay. Ceremonial bricks like this one were commonly used in building projects in Mesopotamia, and this particular one commemorates the building of Nebuchadnezzar’s palace in Babylon. Bricks like this would have been fired in a furnace like the one which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have been thrown into due to their refusal to bow down to the king’s image of gold (see Daniel 3).

Q1. What are the main themes or ideas of the Scripture passage?

Q2. What does this devotional tell me about who God is?

Q3. How does this devotional challenge or encourage me?

Q4. What specific action can I take to live out this teaching?

Q5. Who should I share this with for encouragement or accountability?